


After Tomorrow

by sabrina_il (marina)



Category: Children of Men
Genre: Character of Color, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 02:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marina/pseuds/sabrina_il
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title kind of says it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [futuransky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/futuransky/gifts).



They give her a small, clean room on the lower deck the ship. In the corner there's a crib – handmade. Kee only puts Dylan in it while she's in the room. If she goes out, Dylan comes with her, always in her arms. At night Kee takes her into her bed. One of the scientists – a doctor – told her it was dangerous, when he found out. He said Kee could roll over in the night and block the baby's airways. Kee told him to fuck off.

She spends her days on the voyage taking care of Dylan – never, ever letting her out of her sight – and letting the Human Project tossers prod her with questions and non invasive medical equipment. Well, most of them are all right, really, but Kee's had a lifetime of dealing with educated, white men and women who can't help but exhale condescension, regardless of their intentions. She spends weeks torn between caution and the desire to trust, trying to settle once and for all the Human Project's true intentions. It's not a question of whether they'll use her or help her, but rather in what proportion those two things will come her way. She can't come up with a concrete answer.

They take her to Horta first, a place she's never heard of in the Azores, and smuggle her onto the tiny island under cover of darkness. She holds Dylan close, wrapped up in blankets, while the boat bobs quietly towards the shore. The plan is to take her to Ponta Delgado in a few days, stay in the city until the Tomorrow is ready to sail again in a few weeks – after replenishing its stores.

In the afternoon Kee takes advantage of the sunny weather and takes Dylan to the beach. The black sand glistens in the sunlight and the view of the city is gorgeous. She looks at the waves calmly stroking the shore and thinks of Julian and Miriam and Theo. She thinks about her mum and her older sister – she hadn't thought about them in years. She thinks about the first apartment her family had lived in in London, with the bathroom that leaked and the walls that were half covered in crumbling wallpaper. Kee doesn't let the tears come; she saves them for another day. The road ahead is dangerous and uncertain but it is also full of promise and opportunity.

Dylan stirs in her arms, making a tiny whine – the first sign of hunger. She can't stay much longer; if Dylan starts crying they could be in real danger. After the ship, she thinks she may never feel completely safe on solid ground again. Not with Dylan. She takes a deep breath and lets the fresh air settle into her lungs; a last look at the scenery – dark water, trees and houses in the distance, not a cloud in the sky – before she turns back.


End file.
